“We are really concerned about sea grasses declining all over the globe, actually disappearing,” says Edwin Cruz-Rivera, associate professor of biology at the University of the Virgin Islands and recipient of a NSF Track 4 grant.

Dr. Kristin Wilson Grimes, Research Assistant Professor of Watershed Ecology at the University of the Virgin Islands, has worked to expand opportunities for women in the geosciences throughout her career. Recognizing the important role that diversity brings to innovation and creativity, she has fostered opportunities for under-represented minority students at UVI.

The National Science Foundation has provided for only 28 EPSCoR jurisdictions in the United States. The Virgin Islands Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (VI-EPSCoR), hosted by the University of the Virgin Islands, is one them.